| Royal Shakespeare Company |
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The Royal Shakespeare Company, probably the most famous classical theatre company in the world, has operated in its present form since 1961. Building on a Glorious Past is a brief history of the RSC. The RSC Archive"The theatre archive housed in the Shakespeare Centre Library & Archive here in Stratford-upon-Avon is among the most important in the world; for the study of the performance history of Shakespeare's plays in the twentieth century it is unsurpassed." Robert Smallwood, 'General Editor's Preface' to Shakespeare at Stratford series (London, Thomson Learning in association with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, 2002) In 1875 the Governors of the Shakespeare Memorial Association decided that, in addition to a Theatre, a Library and Picture Gallery should also be created. The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre opened in 1879, the Library and Picture Gallery the following year. The Association (and later the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre) kept a full record of its activities in minute books, newspaper cuttings books, and production materials of all kinds. The archive moved, with the books, into the care of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust at the Shakespeare Centre in Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, in 1964. The RSC's production archives cover, as well as Shakespeare, the full range of productions from the newest work by David Edgar, through Chekhov and Restoration comedy to Shakespeare's contemporaries and even, occasionally, pre-Shakespearian drama. Records of an individual production might include any or all of the following: reviews, programmes, various types of photographic images in different formats, costume designs, manuscript music, prompt books, production records, posters and videocassettes. Holdings vary greatly from production to production and special conditions apply for access to some types of material. A database of the RSC production information, including dates and cast lists is available online: RSC Performance Database. Some of the material in the RSC Archive is also searchable in the Catalogue of Archives.
Administrative archives began to be deposited routinely only in the early 1980s so much material relating to the early history of the Company no longer exists. Administrative files are under a 50-year embargo. Early material which is now available for consultation includes the Governors' Minute Book covering the period up to 1945 and material relating to fund-raising for rebuilding of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre 1929-32. The Library & Archive contains much supporting material from books on stage history to collections of photographs of productions which complement and enrich the RSC's own archive holdings. The following Theatre Profiles have been created using images from the Shakespeare Centre Library & Archive's collection of images: The RSC's official website is at www.rsc.org.uk |
